Marcos eyes China gas deal amid Middle East crisis

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has raised the possibility that the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran could provide the impetus for the Philippines and China to finally reach a deal on developing gas resources in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

“That’s something we’ve been talking about for a great deal, but territorial disputes are getting in the way of that. Maybe this provides impetus for both sides to come to an agreement. That’s something we are exploring. Everything that might be of help we are certainly pursuing,” Marcos told Bloomberg News on Tuesday.

The Philippines and China have been locked in a longstanding territorial row over South China Sea areas that fall within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf. In 2016, an arbitral tribunal based in The Hague voided China’s expansive claim in the South China Sea and affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights over its EEZ. Beijing refused to recognize the ruling, dismissing it as “illegal.”

Despite the dispute, Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume discussions on oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea during a bilateral summit in 2023. Those talks, however, had remained largely stalled due to escalating maritime tensions, including confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

Asked whether a reset in relations with China is needed given the current geopolitical chaos, Marcos said: “I think it’s certainly going to happen; it’s happening now. There’s going to be a very, very serious restructuring.”

“I was watching Prime Minister (Lawrence) Wong from Singapore saying we will have to redraw all, even our legal relationships and international law. There will have to be a new normal,” he added.

Marcos said he sees a “realignment” taking place “at first in the Middle East” and its effect would be on trade relations.

“We also have to remember we have an enormous population in the Middle East. We have over two million Filipinos working in the Gulf countries and very seriously affected as well. One of our biggest sources of income is remittances we get not only from OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) in the Middle East but also around the world,” he added.

Marcos said other countries are honoring their contracts with the Philippines, citing its importation of fertilizer from Indonesia and China, refined fuel from Japan and South Korea, and oil from Malaysia. The Philippines is also exploring possible fuel supply deals with China or Russia.

“China, we always had a trading relationship with and that’s ongoing, and we are trying to increase that supply. Russia is not a traditional supplier of crude oil to the Philippines or any energy supply, but we are exploring that as well,” the President said.

“Basically, we are trying anything, everything to secure supply because that’s the one thing that we can do about. The pricing is going to be a much more difficult challenge because everyone is a price taker when it comes to oil,” he added.

The interview came as the Marcos administration grapples with an escalating energy crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict.

On the same day, Marcos signed Executive Order No. 110 declaring a state of national energy emergency, the first time a president has exercised such authority under Republic Act 7638 to respond to oil supply disruptions.

The Philippines, which holds the rotating ASEAN chairmanship in 2026, has also been pushing for the conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea with China.

A deal on joint gas development could represent a significant breakthrough in Manila-Beijing relations, which have been strained by years of confrontations over disputed maritime features.